Future Students:

2001

FLORENCE, S.C. – Carolina First Bank will sponsor the 17th-annual Francis Marion University intercollegiate men’s golf tournament scheduled for Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 24-25) at the Country Club of South Carolina (par 72 course).

“How can you not be excited about your home tournament,” said FMU golf coach Jonathan Burnett. “Each of the past six years, we have tried to assemble a quality field of collegiate squads. A field such as this year’s, which includes 12 Division I programs and three of the top programs in the Division II Peach Belt Conference, exposes the Florence area to top-level collegiate golf.

“The tough field also pushes our squad. Even though it is our home course, each player must stay focused on every shot. I look forward to seeing how our young squad will do at home against this type of competition. It also serves as good preparation for the remainder of our fall and spring schedules.”

According to Burnett, after two intense qualifying rounds this week, the five-member Patriot team will consist of juniors Juan Pablo Bossi, Matt Dura, and Dylan Keylock, sophomore Fredrik Ohlsson, and second-semester freshman Per Hallberg.

Burnett also expressed his thanks to Carolina First and the Country Club of South Carolina. “The high quality of our event is in direct relation to the sponsorship of Carolina First and CCSC. We like to think of this as one of the region’s top tournaments hosted by a Division II program.”

In its season-opening tournament earlier this month, FMU placed eighth in a field of 13 squads at the Cellular One Raising Cane Classic hosted by the University of Southern Mississippi. Ohlsson paced the Patriots with an 11th-place finish and a two-over-par score (215) for 54 holes.

The fall rankings for the 2001-02 season have not been released. Francis Marion ended last season ranked 17th with a 135-40-4 mark.

Carolina First Bank, a subsidiary of South Financial Group Inc., is the largest South Carolina-based commercial bank. Florence area locations include 684 Pamplico Highway and 121 Dozier Blvd. The South Financial Group, headquartered in Greenville, S.C., is a financial services company with over $5 billion in total assets and 108 branch offices in the Carolinas and Florida. This is the bank’s sixth year of working with the tournament.